


Freaky Frydae

by hellakato



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Angst, Body Swap, Crossover, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Rivals to Lovers, Slow Burn, Tags Are Hard, Weird Aliens, What am I doing, alien magic, body switch, freaky friday AU, freaky friday crossover, heck yeah baby, idk - Freeform, magic?, space, takes place between season 2 and 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 07:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17075816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellakato/pseuds/hellakato
Summary: Recent events have left Team Voltron overworked and uneasy. Their recent battle with the Galran Emperor, Zarkon, has left them without their leader, Shiro. Chronic nightmares have been plaguing Keith, and Lance feels unsuitable for the team. Their internalized anxieties and trails cause Keith and Lance to always be at odds with each other. But, as tension between the two paladins rise, a bizarre sequence of events leads to unfamiliar feelings to spark between the pair.(Would take place post cannon season 2)**********************************************Keith finds himself running down a dark corridor. He must have been running for a while, he  feels out of breath and dizzy, there’s a pain in his side. What is he running away from? Now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t remember, but the overwhelming fear he feels keeps him sprinting down the seemingly endless hallway. He finally reaches a door at the end of the hallway and flies through the threshold, nearly falling over as he stops suddenly to observe the room. He’s standing in the kitchen of his childhood home.





	Freaky Frydae

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! 
> 
> Wow- so, I've been wanting to write this fic for a really, really long time! (Basically since season 2 of vld.) I came up with lots of excuses not to write it: I was too busy, I'm not good at writing, No one would read it, I needed to focus on other things. Ultimately, I came to the decision that if I didn't write this I would be more upset with myself than if I did and no one liked it. So thank you, dear reader, for being here and (hopefully) sharing our mutual love for klance, and cheesy fanfic troupes.

Keith finds himself running down a dark corridor. He must have been running for a while, he feels out of breath and dizzy, there’s a pain in his side. What is he running away from? Now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t remember, but the overwhelming fear he feels keeps him sprinting down the seemingly endless hallway. He finally reaches a door at the end of the hallway and flies through the threshold, nearly falling over as he stops suddenly to observe the room. He’s standing in the kitchen of his childhood home. There’s no denying it, the old, worn out table and chairs sit under the window, paint chipped and covered with marks from Keith’s crayons. His dad’s boots sit by the back door, covered in dried mud. Puzzled, Keith looks out the window to see the sun setting on the yard he played in as a kid. How did he get here? Why is he here? 

Before Keith really had time to really think about either of those questions, a wave of fear washed over him again and he ran out the doorway that would have taken him to the front room. Instead it took him to another corridor, more or less similar to the one he had been in before. It’s just as dark here, and just as deafeningly quiet. This time though there’s a door on either side every few yards. He opens the door on his left and is looking out onto the hallway in front of the principal's office of his first elementary school, the one he went to when he lived with Dad. Keith turns away without bothering to close the door. The vague dizziness he has been feeling worsened but he still jogged past a few more doors before opening one on his right and catching himself on the door frame. Lifting his head a little bit, he looks through his fringe to see the room in front of him before snapping his head up, eyes widening in horror. It’s a hospital room. It’s the hospital room. The room where he watched his dad get sicker and sicker everyday. Where he spent countless nights slumped over in his chair, sleeping at his dad’s bedside. The room where his dad took his last breath. 

Keith was now feeling so dizzy that the floor looked liquid and the started to walls move. Struggling to keep his balance, Keith staggered to another door. Throwing the door open, a cemetery floods his vision. He stammers to another door and now he can feel his heart in his throat. This door leads to the bedroom he had at the orphanage. Another door. This one’s a principal’s office, different from the first one. Now he’s running again, struggling to breathe. The orphanage. A different door, the alley behind a school where he used to get into fights. Keith spins around and opens the door behind him, another principal’s office, again different. More running. The cemetery. The orphanage. He needs to get out, he needs to find a way out of all this. 

Desperately, he opens a door yet again. This one is Commander Iverson’s office at the Galaxy Garrison. Turning his head, Keith finally he sees a door at the end of the hallway. Walk towards the door slowly, he hesitantly pushes the door open. It’s just as dark as the hallway but Keith steps in anyway. It’s his shack that he lived in after the Garrison kicked him out. Outside the window he can see it’s night, the faint illumination of the stars providing the only light in the room. Wandering around the room, Keith’s shin bumps into the small coffee table that always sits in the middle of the room but he hadn’t noticed it until now. Sitting on top of the table is a newspaper, Keith doesn’t have to pick it up to read the headline but he does anyway. It’s an article about the disappearance of the Kerberos Mission, announcing all crew members dead. Tears in his eyes, Keith moved a finger to run over the photo of the pilot, Takashi Shirogane. 

But as soon as he touches the picture, Keith is falling into nothingness. There is nothing around him, nothing above him, nothing below. The air whips his hair around his face and makes a whistling sound in his ears. But Keith was more focused on the sounds coming out of the nothingness. Screaming. The screams and yells of his teammates, he recognizes them from battle. They sound in pain. What’s hurting them?. Someone’s calling his name…. Is it… Lance? It is… The sound of Lance’s broken voice calling out to him. Keith needed to get to him. He looks around frantically, looking for an exit, but there are none. There’s nothing he can do to help. 

Wrrrrrrrt wrrrrrrrrrrrt wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt

Keith is jolted awake by the blaring alarm of the Caste of Lion’s defense system. Gasping for breath, he wipes the hot tears off his cheeks and throws himself out of bed. He dresses in his paladin armor quickly and grabs his knife before running out the door. Jogging to the central control room, he tries to shake the nightmare out of his mind. It wasn’t the first of its kind. Back at home on Earth, he used to occasionally have nightmares with similar themes, but since he’s become a paladin the dreams have become more vivid and more intense. The helpless wailing of his team members was a new addition to the dreams as well. As a result of the persistent nightmares and defending the universe, Keith was beginning to feel very run down. It wasn’t helpful that his friend and mentor, Shiro, was missing and Keith spent every waking moment on edge, a walking ball of sleep deprived tension.

Shortly after Keith leaves his room, Lance is leaving his and is running down the hall after him. Keith is suddenly very aware of Lance’s presence, remembering the way the Lance’s voice sounded in his dream, defeated and pained. Within a few strides, the two paladins are in step. Keith glances over at Lance and catches the confident smirk Lance gives him. Wiggling his eyebrows, Lance silently challenges Keith and lengthens his stride, jogging a few paces ahead of Keith. Keith breathes an agitated sigh, all feelings of concern gone, and tries to ignore him but now Lance is jogging backwards and sticking his tongue out. Frowning, Keith quickens his pace and surpasses Lance. They are only a few yards away from the control room when he hears a scoff behind him and Lance surges forward. Now they are both outright sprinting down the hall. As they rush through the door, Lance looks over his shoulder at Keith, grinning from ear to ear. Hunk yelps and hurries out of the way as Lance charges in his direction and trips over some equipment on the floor. Keith comes to an abrupt stop and rests his hands on his knees to catch his breath. 

“Better luck next time mullet!” Lance says, clapping Keith on the back 

“You got lucky.” Keith breathes

“Paladins!” Allura’s voice is full of strain and worry. “Focus please!” 

Spinning around on his heel, opening his arms wide, Lance practically sings “Anything for you princess!” 

Keith straighten ups and crosses his arms over his chest, visibly annoyed. 

Why does he act so childish?, broods Keith. Everything is a joke or a game to him. Doesn’t he take any of this seriously? We’re in an intergalactic war and Shiro- 

Keith shook his head vigorously, dispelling that thought. 

The point is, people’s lives are at stake.

“Keith!”  
He looks up and sees everyone staring at him with quizzical looks. He hadn’t realized he wasn’t listening to Allura 

“You alright man?” Hunk asks 

Clearing his throat, Keith mumbles, “Yeah, sorry. I’m just… tired”

“Well you’ll need to wake up for this next mission, it’s not going to be easy!” Rang in Coran’s voice cheerfully, teasing Keith. 

“I know you’re tired, we all are.” Allura looking at him sympathetically. “But you know just as well as I do how important this is.” 

“Pssh, don’t worry princess” Chimed in Lance. “I’m not tired. I’ve got enough energy to do my job and Keith’s!” 

Keith glared at him, a strange churning sensation in his stomach. 

“Right.” Allura muttered before continuing. “We’ve picked up a distress signal from a small planet in this solar system.” 

A greenish planet appears on the main screen. 

“According to our records, this planet is known as Frydae and is home to a very ancient and mystical race.” Corran chirped. “I’ll be honest there isn’t a lot we know about this planet or it’s people. But we do think that the signal is coming from the Frydeans and that it’s the Galra who have attacked them.” 

“Why would the Galra attack them?” Pidge inquired. 

“Well, as I said the Frydeans are a mystical race. They have a vast many rituals and spells that they practice. Some of them are thought to be achieved through an absolute life force that the Frydeans have harnessed, similar to Quintessence. I wouldn’t put it past the Galra to try to use the Frydeans and their mysticism as means to build new weapons.” 

“Like they did with the Olkari…” Pidge replied darkly.  
Silence washes over the control room and Keith recalls how infuriating that mission had been. A Galra fleet imprisoned an entire race, exploiting their advanced engineering skills and using them as slaves to create a powerful weapon. 

“Alright, what’s the plan?” Keith asks. 

“We need to take them out as quickly as possible, especially now that we are-” Allura casts a wary look on Keith. “- unable to form Voltron. A prolonged struggle will not only allow the enemy to call for backup but will call unnecessary attention on the lack of Voltron. We cannot let word get out that there is something amiss with Voltron get into Galra hands.” 

Allura’s words are sharp, and leave a ringing in Keith’s ears. None of this information is wrong per say, and he understands the trouble that could arise if the Galra Empire learned they couldn’t form Voltron anymore. But Shiro was… gone. He was missing and how could Allura treat it as if they just had some technical malfunction. Like a engine needing a new part, or the operating system to be recalibrated. 

“Alright team, let’s do this thing!” An enthusiastic Lance refocuses Keith attention to the task at hand. 

Before he knows what’s happening Lance is at his side, one arm over his shoulders, the other over Hunk’s. Hunk is doing the same as Lance, but his other arm is over Pidge. 

“Coran! Allura! Get in on this!” Lance calls.

Before Keith realizes it Allura and Coran are there, sharing the same look of confusion and disbelief as he was. 

“Come on grumpy-” Lance whispers next to him and bumping his hip into Keith. “You gotta get your arms up to join the huddle.” 

“Lance. I don’t-”

“Come on!”

“No.”

“Come oooon!” 

“No.” Keith replies, now stubbornly keeping his arms crossed

“Fine.” Lance sniffs before turning his head to the rest and yelling. “WHEN I SAY VOL YOU SAY TRON! VOL!” 

“TRON!” Yell Hunk and Pidge, encouraging the others. 

“VOL!”

“TRON!” This time everyone replies, except Keith.

“Come on Mullet, be a team player! VOL!”

“... Voltron?” 

“Keeeeeeeeeeith!” Lance whines, exasperated. 

“What? I did your stupid cheer!” 

“Nevermind, let’s go.” 

The paladins disbanded from the control room and each went down their zip-lines to their respective lion hangers. As soon as Keith was alone his brain started to feel fuzzy as all his thoughts clouded his vision. Closing his eyes, he tried to suppress the images from his nightmare flashing beneath his eyelids, bite back the irritation he felt at Allura and the others, and numb the pain he felt from Shiro’s absence. As his speeder entered the hanger Keith began to feel a warm presence quietly flow into his mind. By the time Keith had climbed into the cockpit, the presence had settled itself like a weight on his chest. A gentle weight, just snug enough to notice. Keith smiled and thought that this must be what it’s like to be hugged by a mother. 

“Thanks, Red.” Keith murmured, barely audible, and the lion answered with a low growl before flying out of the hanger after the rest of the team. 

“It’s about time you joined us, Mullet!” 

Keith’s eyebrow twitches in annoyance, he can feel Lance’s mirth. Possibly the only downside of being a paladin of an awesome, giant robot was having a mind link with the other paladins. Although the link was weaker when the lions flew separately, Keith was still able to sense general emotions in the party. There isn’t anyway to pinpoint the origins of any of the feelings, but there was a certain bubbly, energetic energy that usually grew with every bad joke made, or mischievous antic. Keith has dubbed it Lance Energy, because there was no way that absurd feeling came from anyone but the blue paladin. 

Usually a good majority of Lance Energy was a result of Keith letting Lance’s lame insults irritate him. Keith knew he shouldn’t let it get to him, but he found Lance’s never ending, exuberant energy infuriating. 

Keith expected a usual surge in Lance Energy to his annoyance, but was instead met with an uneasiness. 

“Where’s Pidge?” Keith asked

“Oh, Lance sent them ahead to check out how many Galra are down there since the green lion is the only one with cloaking.” Hunk offered. 

“... Wow.” 

“What, impressed Hotshot?” 

Keith feels another annoyed twitch and waits for the Lance Energy. But he’s met with the same uneasy feeling. Though maybe a little more tense, like a string gradually being pulled taught. Keith might have not have noticed it before but in the absence of the familiar Lance-ness, the tension screamed. Yeah, Keith might find it annoying but the lack of Lance’s spirit was just as unsettling as not having Shiro around. 

“Pidge, what’s it look like down there?” Keith asks, trying to ignore his growing anxiety. 

“They’ve made contact with the Frydeans and have weapons on the ground. It doesn’t seem like there are a lot of Galra actually there, but I think they have hostages.” 

“What’s the plan?” Hunk asks, nervously.

“We fight them.” 

“Keith? Wait! We actually need a plan, man!” Lance called after him but the red paladin was already hurtling towards the small, green planet. 

The red lion, being faster than the others, was quickly entering the atmosphere of the little planet and towards the locations Keith’s sensors were picking up from the green lion. Sure enough, as Keith flew closer he saw that a Galra cruiser had landed just outside the Frydean village and several fighters were patrolling the area. 

“I’ll draw the fighters’ fire. You guys get down there and infiltrate the cruiser. Figure out where they have the prisoners and free them.” 

“No problem.” Pidge answered “Let’s go Hunk.” 

Keith flew over the village and drew all three fighters on patrol after him. Looking back, he saw the green lion materialize and land next to the cruiser with the yellow lion. Good they made it, Keith thought. But where was the blue lion? Keith didn’t have time to look for Lance’s lion as more fighters flew out of the cruiser's hanger and after Keith. Evading the fighters’ attacks, Keith turned back around only to see the blue lion flying towards him and shooting two of the Galra ships following Keith down. 

“Lance! What are you doing?”

“Covering your back. What? Did you think you were gonna take on all the fighters?” 

“Lance, go help Pidge. They’re gonna need backup.” 

Keith pulled his lion around and took out a couple more fighters with Red’s tail laser. 

“That’s what Hunk is there for. They’ll both be ok.” Lance swooped in and drew about half of the fighters off Keith. “Let me help you.”

“I don’t need help.” Keith grumbled to himself before letting out a sigh. “Fine.” 

Keith was met with a wave of Lance Energy and a gentle feeling of relief. 

“Bet I can take out more fighters than you!”

Keith imagined Lance’s eyebrows wiggling and eyes sparkling, a playful smile on his lips. He felt a strange sensation in his stomach. Unsure if whether the feeling came from annoyance or not, he grit his teeth.

“You’re on.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again, reader! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading~ If you enjoyed this please leave me a comment, I'd love to hear your feedback! 
> 
> I'm hoping to have the next chapter up soonish- we'll see with school and the holidays coming up! Regardless I hope you come back to read more as, it gets... freaky ;) 
> 
> (ThanksAgainForReadingYourSupportMeansSoMuchToMe)


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